SC car seat laws

I cant believe the car seat laws in my state! I've never bother to check them as i know that like our seat belt law they would suck. But, i could not believe what i found! There's a clause that makes it legal to remove a child from their seat to be fed!

"SECTION 56-5-6430. Use of restraint device not required under certain circumstances.

The provisions of this article do not apply if a child being transported is being fed, has a physical impairment, or a medical problem or any distress which makes it impractical to use a child restraint system. Alternate restraint protection, such as safety belts, must be utilized if possible."

So as long as my baby is securely latched on to my breast apparently they will survive an accident!

They havent updated the child seat laws since 1984! Thats 3 years before i was born! They even still use the 1 year OR 20 pounds to turn FFing. The law almost makes it sound as if you have to turn them at that point!

http://www.buckleupsc.com/safety_seat_law.asp

They just updated the seat belt laws for adults, i hear ppl whine about it all day now. I dont know about you but i dont even notice my seat belt. Its just second nature and sort of like clothing i dont notice my t-shirt anymore than the seat belt but the ppl around here talk like they are these painful, time consuming death traps. The new law just makes it possible for a cop to pull you over for a seat belt violation, it used to be that they could only give you a citation if they pulled you over for something else and you werent wearing it. I like it. It makes getting cops to go after parents who dont use seats a heck of alot easier (esp. since i made friends with the local cop who sets up a speed trap just outside of my neighborhood. I got his cell number and anytime i see the neighbors leaving with the kids in no carseats or boosters i hit speed dial and let him know whats coming at him. I love him. 4 tickets this week. At this point it would have been cheaper had they bought a booster for each of their older kids and a Scenera for the youngest!)

Sorry to piggy back, maybe this is not as uncommon as i thought. NC has a law that states a child can be having its 'personal needs attended to' while out of a seat. i cant believe they add these things that make it ok to take them out of a seat!

yeah its not that uncommon, almost all states need to update them(and they are slowly trying). My state is just now *thinking* about a booster law, until then our law says:
"Child passenger restraints; required for children under six; penalty.
(a) Every person transporting a child under the age of six years in a motor vehicle registered in this state and operated on the roadways, streets, or highways of this state, shall provide for the protection of the child by properly using a child passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. Provided that, with respect to a child who is either four or five years of age, the term "child passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards" shall be deemed to include seat belts installed by the motor vehicle manufacturer, dealer or owner. Provided that in no event shall failure to wear a child passenger restraint system be considered as contributory negligence. Provided that the term "motor vehicle" as used in this section shall not apply to trucks or buses having tonnage rating of one ton or more.
(c) Any person violating the provisions of this section may be fined not more than $10.00 for each offense."

So in other words only children ages 3 and under need a seat of some sort(infant, conv., combo, or booster alone) and children 4-5 can use just a seatbelt. Then the law continues elsewhere to state that children 6 and over can be completely unrestrained as long as they are in the back seat, but 15 and over in the front seat must wear a seatbelt, which leaves a gap there that is very odd. And you only get fined $10 if you are caught, but most times the cops around here dont even notice.

Our state has 6yrs or 60 pounds. I dont intend to even start thinking about full time boosters until they are 6 yrs old! Or cops dont notice or care, i followed a cop home from dance practice (both his kids and my kids are in the same class) and his kids were jumping and practicing their dance routine on the back seat of his squad car. I was so mad. I called his police station and gave them the numbers and the only thing the cops were mad about was him using his squad car for personal business. Forget the bad example it makes for other parents. I was worried alex would spot them and want out of her seat, but she's outboard and cant really see whats going on in front of us. Now i think i want a DVD player, for distraction so they dont whine when they see not all mommies make safety a priority.

On the other hand, she may get to be like CJ and get upset that other people aren't being safe. "Mom, that's not safe! That kid needs a booster!" or "That man isn't wearing his seatbelt! That's not safe!"

I hope we get there one day. right now its monkey see monkey do with her. "Ashley SHE wore her tap shoes to ballet" "Ashley HER mommy didnt make HER eat a samwich" or worse yet "MY mommy didnt do that" or "My mommy lets me." She's discovering that she really is going to live with me forever and she's not very happy about it right now so any rule she might see someone else break she breaks. drives me nuts.

That's got to be tough for all of you.

Its not too bad right now. We've babysat her for long weekend to prepare her for this moment but of course there is nothing that will really prepare her. We're just trying to live thru it and hope that she'll turn back into alex soon. On the bright side we expected worse b/c we dont watch tv often and we dont have noggin or anything kids channels so i thought she would flip without her one and only companion. She's been doing quite well (granted we've been doing alot of acting out the tv shows she remembers watching but at least we're up and playing and making up the bits she's forgot instead of just staring at the tv!)

She'll be fine! You're going to be a great mommy.

Makes me glad I live where I do.

Ontario laws say 1 year AND 20 lbs minimum before front facing (which, as a personal opinion is way too low), and 8 year / 80 lbs / 4'9 before being out of a booster.

Virginia also says 20 lbs & 12 months, but the waythe law is written most people (police included) think it says a 6 yo can be out of a seat. Granted, it's an improvement on the old 4 & 40 law, but the law says a child [ast his 6th birthday must be "properly restrained" in the adults eatbelt - I have yet to meet a 6 yo that is physically capable of being properly restrained in a belt that doesn't fit.